WVU finds shooting rhythm
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Bob Huggins knew his team was capable of putting together a solid shooting performance.
It took six games for that to happen.
Miles McBride scored 20 points and the 11th-ranked Mountaineers rode a hotshooting first half to an 8771 victory against No. 19 Richmond Sunday at WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia (5-1) made 10 consecutive shots in an 18-1 run at the end of the first half for a 52-30 halftime lead. The team shot 66% (23 of 35) from the floor in the half, making 6 of 9 3-point attempts.
It didn’t come as a shock to Huggins.
“They’ve shot like that in practice pretty much all along,” Huggins said. “I don’t think it was a matter of them looking like they were hot. They were just normal.”
In their previous game, the Mountaineers fell behind by eight points at halftime before rallying to beat North Texas. But West Virginia was determined from the start against Richmond (4-1).
McBride made 9 of 11 field- goal attempts. He pointed to his intensity in the first half, when he scored 16, as a catalyst to his team’s breakout performance.
“In the North Texas game, we didn’t have any intensity,” McBride said. “I think our intensity in the first half is something that we need every game for all 40 minutes. I think if I can start that off and others can feed off it, I think we’re going to be hard to beat.”
Taz Sherman added 15 points, and Sean McNeil and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 12 points for the Mountaineers.